Taucheira/Arsinoe (Tocra)

Taucheira: Greek port in the Cyrenaica, also known as Arsinoe.

This is the so-called "eastern church" of
Taucheira/Arsinoe (first
page). It might in fact better be called "northern church".
Christianity
started early in this town: its bishop was present at the Council
of Nicaea in 325. This does not mean that paganism was dead:
according
to Synesius
of Cyrene (c.370-c.413), people went to Arsinoe to venerate
Cybele
(Epistle
3).

The apse
of the eastern church. The church had three
naves.

New
walls were built by the emperor Justinian
(527-565), who also fortified other cities in Libya and built nearby Theodorias
(the overall project is known as Ananeosis).
Except for the stretch along the shore, the lower parts of it have
survived.
It must have have had about thirty towers, of which twenty-three have
been
excavated. Older stones were reused, like the one on the next photo.

An
inscription on which the words Autokrator
Kaisar can still
be read, the Greek translation of the Latin titles Imperator
and Caesar.
The massive walls of Taucheira/Arsinoe enabled the Byzantine commander
Apollonius, when besieged by the Muslim forces who had invaded the Cyrenaica
in 641, to hold out until 645.

The
barracks of the Byzantine forces were in the center
of the city,
on the southeastern side of the main road. as you can see, it was a
square
building with towers on the corners. It was built in the seventh
century,
perhaps when Egypt was briefly occupied by the Sasanian
troops of king Khusrau II (in 619).

Across
the street was the Byzantine palace, where the
governor must
have resided. In its church some lovely mosaics were discovered. Today,
they are exposed to the sun and wind. However, sun flowers, a lizard, a
fruit basket, a hare, a dog, tow birds, another fruit basket, and a
pelican
can still be recognized.

The
southwestern part of the main road.

The
southwestern gate, seen from the outside. Like its
counterpart
in the northeast, it was flanked by two pentagonal bastions -pointing
forward
like the prow of a ship- that must have served as batteries for
catapults.
However, the foundations are square, which proves that the design of
the
towers was later modified.

Looking from
Taucheira/Arsinoe to the west, through the
gate. The road
lead to Euesperides (modern Benghazi) and continued to the west, to Lepcis
Magna, to Oea,
to Sabratha,
and -ultimately- to Carthage
and the Pillars of Heracles.

We visited Taucheira/Arsinoe in 2006 and although it is
small
compared
to Lepcis Magna and Cyrene, it has the longest history: from the
seventh
century BCE to the seventh century CE. Even after the Arab conquest,
Taucheira remained under Byzantine control. The museum was partly
closed, so
it is impossible to show more Byzantine mosaics or the early Islamic
finds.
The archaic ceramics, however, were on display.